PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knew his team'smargin for error remained thin even as the 24th-ranked FightingIrish put together a four-game winning streak to build momentumfor an outside shot at a Bowl Championship Series berth.

Two Tommy Rees passes proved just how narrow it had become.

Rees threw a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions toPittsburgh's Ray Vinopal, allowing the Panthers to rally for a28-21 victory on Saturday night and quash any notion the Irish(7-3) had of earning a BCS bid for the second straight year.

"Our mantra is you can't start winning until you stop losing andwe did things tonight that caused losing," Kelly said.

Repeatedly.

Notre Dame extended two Pitt touchdown drives with majorpenalties, fumbled the ball deep inside Panther territory andinexplicably failed to jump on a fourth-quarter fumble by Pittquarterback Tom Savage that could have swung momentum back inits favor.

James Conner ran for two short touchdowns for the Panthers(5-4), including the go-ahead score with 9:36 remaining. Pitt'sdefense made it stand up, giving coach Paul Chryst the biggestvictory of his two-year tenure when cornerback Anthony Gonzalezbatted aside a fourth-down heave by Rees with 2:26 to play.

"You would like to say that we get up for every game, but wecan't be naive about it," Savage said. "It's Notre Dame. It's afun game. We're in prime time, and this is every college kid'sdream to go out there and play in front of everyone like thatand come out with a win."

Savage passed for 243 yards and two scores to Devin Street asthe Panthers exacted a bit of revenge. Pitt nearly upset NotreDame a year ago, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in SouthBend then allowing the Irish to escape in triple overtime, avictory that kept Notre Dame's perfect regular season alive.

This time, Pitt kept its composure. This time, the Irish'svanished.

The Irish had won 10 straight games decided by seven points orless, the second-longest streak in school history.

It ended after a pair of regrettable decisions by Rees, whothrew for 318 yards and two touchdowns but also struggled withhis accuracy, completing just 18 of 39 passes.

Notre Dame was driving for a go-ahead score early in the fourthquarter when Rees floated a pass to the back of the end zonethat Vinopal leapt in front of to end the threat.

Pitt punted, but Rees gave it right back. He tried to go deepdown the seam but overshot his receiver. The ball sailed intoVinopal's hands and the safety returned it 45 yards to the NotreDame 5. Two plays later Conner ran up the middle to putPittsburgh in front to stay.

Not that the defense didn't have its own issues. Defensive endStephon Tuitt was ejected in the first quarter when he wasflagged for targeting Savage with a helmet-to-helmet hit. Thedrive ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Savage to DevinStreet.

A pass interference penalty on fourth down in the third quarterhelped Pitt tie the game at 14. The biggest miscue came in thefourth when Prince Shembo drilled Savage, jarring the ball looseand sending it rolling to the sideline in Pitt territory. Theball rolled for several seconds without a whistle and without asingle member of the Irish chasing after it. Pitt's IsaacBennett alertly pounced on it and the Panthers eventuallypunted.

Rees' second pick came two plays later and Pitt was in control.

"It's on everybody," Kelly said. "To a large degree, theexecution was very poor."

Jones caught six passes for 149 yards and a touchdown and ranfor another, but Notre Dame also fumbled while trying to score atouchdown in the second quarter. The Irish are off next week andfinish up the regular season with games against BYU and atStanford.

"We go back to square one," Jones said. "No one's happy. You'rethinking about mistakes that cost us the game. We should be 8-2right now."

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